Thursday, August 4, 2011

We got moxie

See this cute baby, cancer? She's laughing at you. You came into my life four years ago, determined to destroy me. But through some twists and turns and lots of moxie, I kicked yo ass. We are all laughing.

I have to give cancer credit for one thing, though, as it has continued to give me pause for reflection. Undoubtedly, I am grateful for the path that I've been given. Four years after my diagnosis, I am with my soulmate and THREE kids! Last year on this day, Anton proposed to me in Maui, and birds came to bless us on the balcony (no joke!). I felt like Cinderella. We got married in April, and three weeks after that, baby Moxie was born. Our little miracle.

As much as I have to celebrate, being a young adult cancer survivor is certainly not without deep sadness. In June, we lost a good friend to this horrible disease. Caio, as everyone knew, was a beautiful pure soul. I think of Caio and his husband Miles everyday, and I feel anger, sadness, and loss. But I also feel love and inspiration. Miles and Caio were what I think everyone wishes for--fairytale love, child-like love, all love. You were just happy when you were around Miles and Caio. And now, I feel so sad for Miles, as he lives everyday without his beloved. Thinking about Miles and Caio, I know to never take for granted each moment I have with my husband and children. I feel the urgency that at any moment, this life could be taken away. Cancer has given me this urgency, in spite of my youth.

So you see...cancer has taken a lot from me. But in place of what has been taken, so much more has been given. And now, I get to live each day with so much moxie and a whole lot more.

About Me

I grew up in rural Pennsylvania with my Vietnamese mom and Pennsylvania Dutch dad, and went to university in Boston, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. I'm currently writing a memoir about my journey with cancer, infidelity, and divorce, and how that journey has paralleled my parents' experiences during and after the Vietnam War.